Going sleep deprived. Depending on the age group,

Going sleep deprived. Depending on the age group,

Going a few nights without sleep does more than just make a person feel grumpy and drowsy the next day. There are many short and long term effects of sleep deprivation. It affects a person’s physical and mental abilities. Science has linked poor sleep with various health problems. Speaking on short terms, it can affect someone’s judgement, mood, and the ability to process and retain information. Long term effects however are more severe. Long term sleep deprivation can lead to many health issues such as becoming obese and diabetes. The cost of going with hardly any sleep is much greater than what he/she would assume: it can cause many health problems. Some damage could end up being permanent. Research has revealed that people who on a consistently fail to get enough sleep are at an increased risk of chronic disease. If more people would treat sleep as a necessity, it would help decrease the risk for disease. Not sleeping takes a toll on one’s perception and judgement. For example, in the workfield lack of sleep would affect efficiency and productivity. There are many health concerns and chronic illnesses that can affect the body from not sleeping. Dr. Steven Feinsilver, the director for the center for sleep medicine at Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City Has said that if a person is deprived of sleep, it can lead to “tremendous emotional problems.” He also stated that sleep deprivation has been used as a “form or torture.” There is no set amount of time a person must go without sleep to be considered as sleep deprived. Depending on the age group, different people need different amounts of sleep. With that being said, there may not even be a universal definition for the term “Sleep Deprived.” Researchers say that to be considered as sleep deprived, a person gets less sleep than they need to feel alert. Dr David Dinges, a psychology professor at the University of PA, has said that years of research has been found that explains people who do not get enough sleep could be psychologically and physically damaged. In fact, the damage is so apparent that it is considered unethical to deprive a person of sleep. Studying sleep deprivation has helped researchers understand the importance for both physical and emotional health. Some problems exist including Emotions Askew: someone who is deprived of sleep will not show positive facial expressions. They have a neutral facial expression and they may not recognize other people as happy either. Just one night of not sleeping very well can result in a phenomenon called “microsleeps” the next day. This is where a person will fall into a 30 second mini snooze. The disturbing thing is, some people’s eyes will remain open during this time. Also during this time, the person is not processing information either. This could potentially be dangerous especially if you are behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. But in more extreme cases, losing sleep could cause cause delirium. Delirium occurs when a person is completely disoriented. Hallucinations are another side effect. Seeing things that are not there is a for sure sign of poor sleep. Misperception can occur when people are very sleepy. Some people may see a flicker in their peripheral view or may think they see burning lights. All of these are indications that the brain is not properly functioning. Many people are curious to know if lack of sleep can make you feel sick. The answer is yes, a lack of sleep can affect the immune system. Studies have shown that when someone doesn’t get enough sleep it affects how quickly the body can recover from an illness. While sleeping, proteins called “cytokines” are released from the immune system. These proteins help to promote sleep. When someone has an infection or inflammation certain cytokines actually increase. Going with no sleep decreases production of these protective proteins. In addition to this, infection fighting antibodies and cells are reduced during periods where a person is not sleeping. So basically, a person’s body needs sleep to help fight off infectious diseases. As mentioned, there is also an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. So the question here is, how much sleep does a person need to maintain a strong immune system? The average amount of sleep an adult needs is seven to eight hours each night. Teenagers on the other hand, actually need more hours of sleep time than adults. Teens actually need, an average of nine to ten hours. Kindergarten through middle school kids may need ten or more hours.People must remember that the human body does need sleep. When asleep, the body is trying to heal itself and restore its chemical balance. The brain helps memory retention by making new connections. When one does not get the suggested amount of sleep, their brain and body systems will not function normally. When someone is lacking sleep, their quality of life can also be dramatically lowered. There have been as many as sixteen studies reviewed that have found that sleeping for less than six to eight hours a night increases the risk of an early death by almost 12%. The obvious signs of sleep deprivation include excessive sleepiness,irritability, and fatigue. Stimulants such as caffeine are not enough to override the body’s need for sleep. Chronic lack of sleep can interfere with the body’s internal systems and cause more damage than the symptoms listed above. For example, it can affect the central nervous system. The central nervous system is like an information highway of your body. Sleep is essential in keeping things functioning properly. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect the way your body sends the information. When you sleep, Pathways form between neurons in the brain that will help a person to remember new things. When going without sleep, the brain becomes exhausted. Therefore, it doesn’t perform its as well as it should. Not sleeping can also cause manic depression. The symptoms to look for are impulsive behavior, depression, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts. The respiratory system can be affected as well. Sleep and the respiratory system have a relationship the goes both ways. One could possibly develop obstructive sleep apnea, which is a breathing disorder. This disorder causes some to awaken throughout the night. This could make the body become more vulnerable to things like the common cold. In other cases, even the Flu. Another that is affected from lack of sleep is the digestive system. Sleep affects the levels of two hormones. Those are: Leptin and Ghrelin. Those two things control the feelings someone has when they are hungry or full. So when someone does not get enough sleep their brain reduces these hormones. That can lead to being overweight and being a diabetic. To conclude this research, I have found that many things can come from not sleeping very well. It heightens the risk for many mental problems, physical too. A sleep deprived person could become overweight. One is not able to function like they normally would with plenty of sleep. The brain can be drastically affected as well. Some proteins are not able to work correctly. People could develop various problems with long term effects. These are reasons why we all need sleep. Lack of sleep is very dangerous to the human mind a